The No Sweat Shakespeare for Kids ebook series makes the Bard immediately accessible to children.

The Shakespeare for Kids ebook series is designed as a resource that can be read by children, or read to them by parents who wish to introduce them to Shakespeare at an early age. Shakespeare for Kids ebooks:

Are aimed at children from 8 to 11

Follow the structure of Shakespeare’s texts

Tell the Bard’s tales with narrative and dialogue based on the original language

Use simplified language, with Shakespeare’s original language retained where it is simple and clear

Are a thrilling, absorbing reads that gives children a clear understanding of the play and a strong feel of the original

There have been many attempts to bring Shakespeare’s texts to children, beginning with Lamb’s Tales. However, modern children find an eighteenth century narrative style inaccessible. Subsequent efforts to present Shakespeare to children have been updated versions of that narrative style of story telling. Modern children don’t relate to that style of book – they demand something immediate, where they can enter the world of the text, ‘see’ the settings, ‘hear’ the characters speak, and feel their emotions, just as they do when they read the novels of their favourite children’s authors. Our Shakespeare for Kids series makes the Bard immediately accessible to children in that way.

The Shakespeare for Kids series is designed as a resource that can be read by children, or read to them by parents who wish to introduce them to Shakespeare at an early age. Most exciting, though, these resources are designed for the classroom – for teachers to introduce children as young as eight to Shakespeare’s plays. They are aimed at children from 8 to 11. No Sweat Shakespeare ‘s main texts are suitable for older students – teenagers from 11 upwards.

For primary school Shakespeare, junior school Shakespeare, elementary school Shakespeare, grade school Shakespeare or grammar school Shakespeare, these No Sweat Shakespeare children’s resources are perfect. They follow the structure of Shakespeare’s texts and they tell the Bard’s tales with narrative and dialogue based on the original language. The result is a thrilling, absorbing read that gives children a clear understanding of the play and a strong feel of the original.

Although the language is simplified, Shakespeare’s original language is retained where it is simple and clear enough. It is remarkable to discover how much of Shakespeare’s language is, indeed, simple, clear and modern. Where contentious issues that are unsuitable for children are specifically dealt with in Shakespeare’s texts, such as Caliban’s attempt to violate Miranda in The Tempest , and the sexual content of Romeo and Juliet , they are removed or glossed over, so that while the texts still retain their major issues, they are safe.

If you are a teacher or a parent wanting to introduce Shakespeare to children in a safe, exciting and effective way, this Shakespeare for Kids series is the resource for you.